Prominent Leave advocate Jacob Rees-Mogg has been roundly slated on social media after he tried to make England’s cricket world cup win about Brexit.
The Tory MP posted “we clearly don’t need Europe to win” after the England team narrowly defeated New Zealand at Lords in an intense match.
But people were quick to point out the international make-up of the squad, which boasts five players born outside the UK including an Irish captain, a New Zealand-born Man of the Match and a Barbadian bowler who took charge of the final and decisive over.
A d..n close run thing, we clearly don’t need Europe to win… #CricketWorldCupFinal https://t.co/lYsmHwy3Cy
— Jacob Rees-Mogg (@Jacob_Rees_Mogg) July 14, 2019
Rees-Mogg’s fellow Conservative MP Ed Vaizey replied shortly after he tweeted, saying that his colleague was guilty of “slightly misjudging the mood”.
Alastair Campbell suggested that “perhaps instead of making a silly Brextremist point, offer congratulations to the Irish captain, the NZ-born man of the match, and the Barbadian bowler who got it over the line”.
Today, I rooted for England.
— Connor Byrne (@connorjbyrne) July 14, 2019
And today, after 36 yrs, i felt the most english I've ever felt.
Watching a man from Dublin, hand the ball to a man from Barbados to go and win the cricket world cup for England?
That is the England i love.
The one that is inclusive, open, not closed
Daniel Lawes, the founder and chief executive of YouthPolitics UK, also tweeted: “Captained by an immigrant, batting led by an immigrant, fastest bowler an immigrant, leading all-rounder an immigrant, main spinner son of an immigrant.”
While captain Eoin Morgan had some words to say about the diverse make-up of the squad with the following interview with a reporter shortly after the game:
“Eoin, do you think you had the luck of the Irish with you today?”
[Laughing] “Well, Adil said we had Allah on our side too, so we had that as well. It’s the rub of the green.
“It’s also reflective of our team; we’re a diverse side & we brought that together today.”
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